Enterprises in the retail and wholesale sectors can look forward to a comprehensive suite of Business Analytics (BA) shared services to enhance their competitiveness starting mid 2013. These services, to be deployed on shared infrastructure, will enhance enterprises' capabilities in Customer & Marketing Analytics, Inventory Optimisation and Operations Analytics.

As part of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) Data & Analytics Programme, IDA and its industry partners will be investing a total of $5.3 million to develop a suite of Business Analytics shared services for the retail and wholesale sectors. Three service providers have been selected through a Call-For-Collaboration (CFC) to provide the analytics services. The CFC was awarded in May 2012 to Manthan Systems, CyanSYS and PracBiz.

Objectives

The Sectoral Business Analytics Shared Services CFC aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Lower the barriers to adoption of BA for enterprises in the Retail and Wholesale sectors
• Encourage greater adoption of BA in the Retail and Wholesale sectors by demonstrating the business value of BA
• Enhance ICT companies' capabilities in the deployment of BA solutions
• Deploy BA shared services on a scalable infrastructure to responsively meet growing demand

The successful implementation of the shared services will lead to a more vibrant BA ecosystem in Singapore and benefit both user enterprises and ICT companies.

Business Analytics Shared Services

BA shared services will be developed by the following service providers selected through a CFC in these areas:

For front end store operations, Customer & Marketing Analytics will enable retailers to identify their key customer segments, understand purchase behaviours and trends, and optimise their marketing and promotion campaigns to better meet the needs of the customers. These insights will help retailers to enhance the customer experience by delivering more relevant products and services, and improve the effectiveness of their campaigns and promotions.

For back end processes, Inventory Optimisation will enable retailers and suppliers to forecast demand more accurately, determine optimal stock and replenishment levels, and optimise assortments of goods. Retailers will also be able to collaborate more closely with their suppliers to optimise and manage inventory levels, in order to improve efficiency and reduce inventory-related costs.

Operations Analytics will enable retail suppliers to optimise their resources such as goods and manpower, in order to increase operational efficiency and boost productivity.

Participating Companies

Six retail enterprises are participating in this initiative as early adopters. They are NTUC Link, NTUC Fairprice, NTUC Unity Healthcare, C K Tang, Best Denki and YG Marketing. These early adopters will work with Manthan Systems, CyanSYS and PracBiz to create ready-to-use analytics applications for different retail segments spanning grocery, consumer electronics and departmental stores.

More Information

Press Release: Business Analytics Shared Services to Enhance Retail & Wholesale Sectors' Competitiveness (31 May 2012)

For enquiries, please contact:

Kelly Yoong (Mr)
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
DID: +65 6211 0508
Fax: +65 6659 2404
Email: [email protected]

Aloysius Lim (Mr)
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
DID: +65 6211 0509
Fax: +65 6659 2404
Email: [email protected]